1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for directing a moving object, and more particularly to a moving object capable of recognizing an image, and a moving-object directing system equipped with the moving object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a robot developed for industrial purposes is being widely used to achieve factory automation, and collects data or information on behalf of a human being under an extreme situation which is unbearable for the human being.
Recently, the above-mentioned robotics technologies have been used for space industries, and have been rapidly developed in various ways, resulting in the implementation of human-friendly household robots.
The human-friendly household mobile robot uses a battery to guarantee mobility at any place. If a voltage of the battery is equal to or less than a predetermined voltage, the human-friendly household mobile robot is programmed to automatically return to a charging device, such that the battery is recharged.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are conceptual diagrams illustrating a conventional method for docking a cleaning robot, used as an example of a moving object, to a charging device.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a cleaning robot 1 receives a directing signal from a directing signal transmitter 8 of a charging device 5, returns to a location of the charging device 5, and then moves to a docking location (i.e., a location of a power-supply terminal of the charging device) according to the following method.
In other words, the circumference of the conventional cleaning robot 1 includes an arc-shaped charging terminal 2 for charging a battery with electricity. In other words, the same contact sensors 4A and 4B for directing the cleaning robot to a docking location are installed at both sides of the charging terminal 2. A power-supply terminal 6 is installed at a front side of the charging device 5, and a pair of guides 7 is installed at both sides of the charging device 5.
Therefore, a controller for controlling overall moving operations of the cleaning robot 1 rotates driving wheels 1A and 1B in a forward or reverse direction when the contact sensors 4A and 4B touch the guide 7, such that it controls a proceeding direction of the cleaning robot 1 to touch the power-supply terminal 6 with the charging terminal 2 of the cleaning robot 1.
However, the above-mentioned conventional method determines whether the contact sensors 4A and 4B touch the guide 7 without using correct numerical information, and moves the cleaning robot 1 to the docking location according to the determined result, such that unnecessary movement occurs several times when the charging terminal 2 docks with the power-supply terminal 6.
Also, the guide 7 for directing the cleaning robot 1 to the docking location must be installed to the charging device 5, such that a mechanical structure of the charging device 5 is complicated, and the charging device 5 may be easily damaged by external impact due to the projected guide 7.